Believe it or not, early knowledge of Raleigh North Carolina was limited to what I learned on the classic
Andy Griffith show. Every year Barney Fife would venture into the bustling city of Raleigh for his annual vacation, writing postcards to friends in Mayberry of his ventures in the big city. As I remember, the highlights for him were staying at the local YMCA, catching the daily special at the diner, eating tapioca pudding and heading to bed no earlier than 11 or 11:15 pm! I guess I had to find out for myself what all the excitement was about... turns out there are all these things to do in Raleigh and MORE!
Truth be told, since I was already in this part of the country taking a couple intensive courses at Liberty University in Virginia this July, I thought I would drive the three hours to Raleigh for a mini-vacation over an extended weekend. Once I went through my contact database, I found near a dozen friends to visit from former days at TCIS (school in Korea) who were available and wanted to get together.
The first stop was at the Blanchard household where we enjoyed an evening of catching up and reliving old memories. Ed and Patty are former dorm parents of a boys dorm in Korea where I helped on weekends. I believe this was the first time we were able to sit down to a quiet meal without dozens of teenagers hovering over waiting impatiently for us to finish our dinner. Typical of teenage boys, they were always done their meal within minutes and, as a rule, we had to wait for each other to finish before leaving the table. Those of you who know how I like to take my time at the dinner table can imagine how frustrated the guys would be with me as their waiting took valuable time from video games and other pressing matters.
Anyway, back to Raleigh...
Since I wasn't overly thrilled about the idea of staying at the local Y as Barney did some 50 years ago, I looked around for a good deal and came across a room at the Wyndham located in the newly developed Research Triangle Park. What a wonderful hotel and area of Raleigh. As I understand, this business suburb houses large international corporate headquarters such as IBM, Dupont, Cisco and Bayer and has the local services to support it... like the Cheesecake Factory!
Between connecting with friends and experiencing restaurants I haven't been to since the days I lived in Denver, I was able to visit the State Farmer's Market and historic downtown.
What a wonderful laid-back city, with the trolley system, historic buildings and even Saturday afternoon events on the lawn of the state capital and nearby park. For instance, I was able to observe animal rehabilitation workers showing us a number of birds they are treating. It's the first time I've been able to get within 3-4 feet and learn about a variety of falcons and hawks... absolutely beautiful creatures! Did you know they can hear your heartbeat?
So after my four day mini-vacation here in Raleigh, I can see what Barney saw in this place. It's a bustling city with a small-town feel which truly suits my style. Maybe I'll follow suit and make this my annual vacation spot?
